‘If you’re looking for me after I’m finished making the salad, I’ll be out watering the garden.’ If Griff was determined to avoid her, she’d be reduced to lurking out of sight like a teenage girl pining for the boy she could never have.
But you could’ve had him; it’s totally your own fault. This is what happens when you’re mad enough to believe you can organize your life the same as organizing a house.
Chapter Seventeen
Griff considered it nothing short of a miracle. Ten long days since he’d brought Jase back home with him and he hadn’t killed his brother. Yet. He straightened up, wriggled his shoulders and frowned at the half-completed glass panel laid out on the bench in front of him. Although he’d never done any ecclesiastical glass work before, he’d been commissioned to make a replacement for a vandalized window in a local church. But between stewing about Jase and Lyndsey, his mind was all over the place, leaving little room in his brain for creativity.
By unspoken agreement, he and Jase stayed out of each other’s way as much as possible. He divided his own days between his workshop and the garden while his brother seemingly did nothing. On Griff’s lunch break, when he dutifully returned to the house, Jase was usually sprawled on the sofa watching sports and still wearing the ragged T-shirt and boxers he slept in. When he foolishly threw out a few tentative suggestions about things Jase might do to pass the days, Griff had his head bitten off. Judging by his brother’s pallor, Griff guessed he hadn’t stepped outside the door since they arrived. So much for everyone thinking that a change of scenery would get his younger brother back on some sort of constructive track.
And Lyndsey? He’d tortured himself wondering what exactly Theo reported back last week and how she might’ve reacted. On several occasions when working in the garden, Griff was convinced she was outside too, because he felt her presence so strongly. Perhaps if he was a better man, he’d hope she was contented with her decision to toss their relationship on the scrap heap, but he couldn’t be that generous. He wanted her to hurt as badly as him. Sleepless. Unable to get pleasure from anything. Rehashing their time together until it stung like broken glass slicing through his skin. Perhaps then they might stand a chance.
‘So what is it you do out here all day, apart from avoid me?’ Jase strolled in.
Griff noticed it was before noon and his brother was dressed for once, although the ragged jean shorts and faded Metallica shirt weren’t a huge improvement. ‘Stop. Don’t come any further.’ He held up a hand. ‘I’m not being a jerk for the sake of it, but you can’t just walk in here.’
‘Need an appointment, do I?’
‘No, but for your own safety, you need to knock first.’ Patiently, he explained the ritual surrounding his workspace. Hopefully, explaining that his neighbors were familiar with the routine made it clear the warning wasn’t personal. ‘I haven’t started to lead this piece yet, so you’re good on that score, but there’s glass dust everywhere, so don’t touch anything.’
‘All right to look around?’
‘Sure. Go ahead.’ He selected a heavy piece of dark green glass and pretended to study the panel in front of him while surreptitiously watching his brother move around the room. Jase stopped in front of the piece he’d mentally titledEssence of Love— the work inspired by Lyndsey. After the grout dried, he’d cleaned off the stray scraps covering up the colored glass, then polished the whole piece with glass cloth. That brought it to life, the same as switching on a light bulb in a dark room.
‘This one’s different. I like it.’ The inference behind Jase’s words — that he wasn’t as sure about the others — grated a little, but he chose to focus on the praise instead.
‘Yeah, it’s a change of direction. More personal.’ He hoped his brother wouldn’t dig too deeply into the inspiration behind the panel.
‘Who is she? Must be pretty special.’
For a second, he couldn’t speak, too shocked by the piercing insight. ‘Yeah, she is,’ Griff whispered. ‘But we’re not together anymore.’
‘Not by your choice?’
‘Nope.’ He shook his head. ‘How’d you see all that?’
‘Contrary to popular belief, there’s more to me these days than the guy who thought life began and ended with sports and girls.’ Jase gestured to Griff’s ponytail. ‘I still had you marked out as a math nerd with a buzz haircut. What does our old man think of this?’
‘Dad’s eyebrows raised the first time he saw it, but he never said a word. I’m guessin’ Mom threatened him.’
‘I bet.’ Jase looked puzzled. ‘Tell me, how d’you get from being a numbers guy to this?’
Griff guessed what his brother was really asking was how you reinvented yourself when you were so far along on the path everyone expected you to follow. That question had a very long answer.
‘Do you feel like telling me about it over lunch? I’m goin’ a bit stir crazy.’
‘Sure. I’ll have to shower first. You go back to the house and I’ll lock up and come join you.’ This might be a first small step in the right direction. No doubt their parents’ decades-long hope that he and Jase could become friends again was the biggest reason behind his brother being here now. That brought him back around to thinking about Lyndsey again, because she’d wryly admitted that her parents sent her to Tennessee with the same sort of mission in mind.
‘Maybe over a beer you’ll tell me about this woman, too?’
‘Maybe. If I do, perhapsyou’lltellmewhy you’ve continued to let me take the blame for crashing Dad’s car and almost killingmygirlfriend?’
Jase’s face lost all color. It’d been festering between them since his brother arrived, but Griff never meant to spit it out this way. Perhaps it’d been inevitable, though? He waited for an answer.
* * *
Lyndsey dropped the last weed she intended pulling today in a bucket. Over the last week, she and Becca had worked together in the garden when they had any spare time. She was pleased when her sister showed an interest in livening it up, even if it did cut into what was left of Lyndsey’s spare time. Although it was a little late in the season, they’d planted an interesting selection of summer flowers, but to keep it all alive and flourishing, they needed to water them daily. She’d added that to her own long list of chores but, interestingly enough, wasn’t finding it a burden at all. Being outside, even when it was this hot and humid, and connecting with the earth was calming her, helping her cope better with life in general.Some of her neighbors back home had window boxes, but it wouldn’t be as satisfying as this. When she admitted as much to Miss Grey this morning, Lyndsey got a knowing smile in response.
After the tea party, the old lady had accepted Harold and William’s kind offer to help with her garden, and she’d invited Lyndsey over to see the improvements so far. In her typical determined way, Ruth Mae made it clear that she too had played her part, by supervising the two men’s endeavors. Lyndsey had been amazed to see everything they’d done already: the newly tamed grass, the pruned-back bushes and the flower beds that were no longer buried under a tangle of weeds. She’d been pleased to find Harold and William there when she arrived, repairing one of the old sheds so it could be used for its original purpose. The only awkward moment came when Harold said they could do with Griff’s help to make a start on repairs to the cabin itself.
